There was something familiar about one young man in particular yesterday morning as he filed into the meeting room at the county jail... We began as always, AA preamble, How it Works, Serenity Prayer, etc. One "regular" attendee asked how does one go about working on the Steps. We began to share on getting started on Step 1, where he could read all about it, etc. The angry looking young man chimed in about his situation, that he had never been to AA, that he was in some jail sponsored "anti-relapse" counselling but he was pretty guarded and skeptical about things. They wanted to know when the craving goes away, how do you actually keep from drinking, what about my friends, "but I love the night life," "I have this great job waiting for me when I get out," etc. About 45 mins in, after some great God inspired dialogue and sharing, and a real earnest change in this young man's attitude (despite his near departure from the meeting when the old-timer who was there with me told him that HE was really the problem, not drinking), a softening in his demeanor... He finally shared with us who he was and I could finally quit wracking my brain (that sort of thing drives me nuts)... He's the son of one of my best friends, who's in AA and hasn't seen either of his boys in probably 5+ yrs (which I have always thought to be quite odd, he doesn't ever say anything about that...) Well, I nearly fell out of my chair... I knew this young man in HS (he's 26 now), saw him quite alot several years ago but had completely lost touch with him. Of course he asked me not to say anything to his dad, and out of respect for both of them and the AA principle of anonymity, I am quite happy to keep our meeting between us. But, I did let him know, after seeing the bitterness in his eyes and hearing it in his voice when he talked about his dad, that at some point he'd probably be able to patch things up with his dad as a result of them both being sober in AA but that he really need not worry about any of that for now. What a meeting that was! I have been truly blessed with a couple of really wonderful meetings this week! I love it!
Well, I need to dash... I have to blow the dust off and get over to Church, I am playing at Mass. I do so enjoy playing in Church, sharing the gift of music that was freely given me by HP. Anyway, I hope y'all have a wonderful Sunday!
Prayer for today...
JC/HP/God, please help me to stay sober and live to good purpose today. Please use me to inspire those who hear me play at Mass this morning. God, I pray for Your Will and Your Grace for my friend and his son. I pray that we planted a good seed yesterday, and got that young man started on the right path. I pray that I can maintain an attitude of understanding and acceptance where my wife is concerned. Please help me with that. Also, we nearly lost a fine man in our community this past week. He has been fighting Leukemia and had been doing well, until a sudden downturn. He's back out of ICU by some miracle. I pray for Your Grace and Courage for him and his family. Thank You for Your miracles, and I am grateful to be witness to them!
may the peace of Christ be with you all!
3 comments:
That's a great story about the young man.
I sure hope he Keeps Coming Back.
What a miracle you were there. I love hearing about things like that. It is a constant reminder that God is working in ways we know little of.
Thanks for all your support Scott. I appreciate your cyber friendship.
Gwen~
oh scott, God needed to use you for something that day...and you suited up and showed up. That's really all that was necessary. That is so awesome! ...you were there to plant some seeds of HOPE.
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